Ketemunya di Draft. Salam, RM
------------------------------------------------- Niken Astuti (her real name, surname withheld) is an extraordinary young woman in her own right. Now this petite lady, 28, married to a young Texan, Steve Franks, lives in a leafy area of Dallas. Your reporter (YR) recently interviewed her (NA) in her home. YR: Tell me who you are, your childhood, etc. NA: Well, not much recollection from childhood, but I was born in Jakarta. They say at age four I went abroad with my parents. Then my father went back to Jakarta for almost 3 years and I went to SD Iskandariah grades V and VI and SMP 13 grade I. That's all. YR: You are an industrial engineer, right? Tell me something about it. NA: That's a long story. When my family was in Mexico in late 1980s and early 1990s, I went to Greengates, a British private school. It was a memorable time for me. In hindsight, I think it was my formative years. There were really good teachers. There were also role models like Daniel who was a star in athletics and rugby and number one in academics and his essays and poems in the students paper fascinated my dad; he went to Cambridge after graduation to do science. Then there was my class mate Annette who was good in science and spoke German too. Of course everyone in Greengates spoke flawless standard middle class British English. Some time after I finished IGCSE (O-level), Dad moved again to Jakarta. YR: You are the only child, right? Did you go with your parents to Jakarta? NA: We are an extraordinary Indonesian family. Dad and Mom decided that they had to leave me in Mexico and finished IB (A-level) and later let me go to US college. It was difficult parting with them at the airport; Mom cried like a child. YR: You were very young then. How could you manage a life on your own in a foreign land? NA: Not really. Mom had arranged with Mbak Rina whose husband Mr. Hubertus von Laer, an engineer with the Mercedes plant in Mexico to allow me to live with them when my parents left. I was sixteen but .. (pause) life was equally hard for my parents who had to part with their only child. It was not about money though, they left enough money in the bank for my education. YR: Tell me the academics part of your last years in Greengates school. NA: I did maths, physics, chemistry and on the side English and critical thinking and economics. Come to think of it, they were college stuff and figuratively speaking I got burnt. I had to grapple with calculus, classics (Shakespeare to Samuel Beckett) and college economics (Samuelson). In addition to academics, IB required me to do proven social work (tuitoring and collecting food donations for the needy). YR: Then you went to Schreiner College in Texas, right. Why did you choose Schreiner? NA: In fact during my terminal senior year at Greengates, I appllied to a number of US colleges and universities. Of which, I got admission to Boston University, Raensellar, Rochester, and Schreiner. I chose the latter, simply because it is the most affordable and it is a small school. I have no regret. And there is another compelling attraction: Schreiner offered 3 + 2 B.S. three years in Schreiner B.S (engineering) plus two years B.S. (engineering) in another accredited school. YR: Tell me about your Schreiner years. NA: It was three months before my 18th birthday when I enrolled at Schreiner College (now University). Being considered a minor, I could not do two important things: opening an account on my own name and driving an automobile. Like all sophomores, I stayed in dormitory (hall). YR: What was your major? NA: I did mechanical engineering. After some time I shifted to industrial engineering, which was a good decision I think. After three years in Schreiner, I transferred to Texas Tech at Lubbock. I graduated with two parallel B.S. degrees. YR: Who is the most unforgetable person or persons in your life? NA: It is my parents. They have sacrificed so much for me. They set aside much of their saving and put it in a bank in Texas just for me to pay my tuitions and living expenses. This they had planned all along. I know how hard the physical separation for Mom was. Mom calls me once a month and once in a while I communicate with Dad on the internet. Although we live on the opposite sides of the globe, my similarities with Dad are unmistakable: empathy not with Goliath but with David, similar strengths and weaknesses in school subjects, and we share common interest in reading letters to the editor and the comic strips (especially Blondie we both like). Dad is a true believer in the power of positive thought, positive speech and positive actions. YR: Would you go and work in Indonesia when you make more or less the same money you make here now? NA: Look. Not everybody works to get more and more money. Not me. Not me. I am afraid that when I work in Indonesia now I end up becoming another fat cat. Doing nothing but making a fortune that I do not deserve? Career in engineering is unlike other professions. One has to start work at an early age. Because he or she is supposed to start at the lowest of the ladder. (Pause). Dad told me that when I submitted applications to US universities, his boss suggested that he seek scholarship from BPPT (Mr. Habibie). Dad decided not to do this, and instead he gave me freedom. In retrospect, he was right because otherwise I am afraid that, God forbid, I would become another whiner or grumbler or worse, become another laid-off PT D.I. worker. Dad fully financed my studies, and I am grateful for this. I know my parents have sacrified so much to safe their only child. 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